Shipping containers are widely used all throughout not only the United States but the entire world for purposes of transporting products and goods. But shipping containers are all too frequently discarded, and become contributing factors to the growing waste problem that our planet must now contend with. In fact, data shows that although there are currently more than fifteen million shipping containers, only around five to six million are actually currently in circulation. These few shipping containers (when compared to the total number of them) make a total of around two hundred million trips a year, and nearly seven hundred (around six hundred and seventy five, to be more exact) end up lost at sea on an annual basis.
But more and more people are looking to buy used storage containers. Why buy used storage containers, you might ask – and with good reason. But there are many uses for used shipping containers that people are not aware of, and more and more people are making the decision to buy used storage containers and repurpose them. From shipping container homes to office containers for sale, there are many uses for that who buy used storage containers. And the decision to buy used storage containers is a wholly environmentally sound one. In fact, just one person making a decision to buy used storage containers – even just one – can have an impact.
When people choose to build using shipping containers for sale, they are reusing around three hundred thousand and five hundred kilograms of steel per used shipping container. Not only does this recycle this vast amount of steel that would otherwise simply be discarded if the decision to buy used storage containers hadn’t been made, but it also saves other materials from needing to be used. Traditional construction materials such as brick and mortar as well as many others can be conserved, which can have a dramatically positive effect on the environment as a whole. And because these materials don’t need to be used so frequently with the use of steel shipping containers as building materials, the task of storage container modifications and of turning a storage container into a usable dwelling is often far less expensive than more typical types of construction.
For those who buy used storage containers, it is important to note that a home made from used shipping containers will not last forever. It can, however, last for an extended period of time, with the typical shipping container house lasting as many as twenty years in total if provided with the right care and maintenance. This means that shipping container homes can be perfect for those who may be struggling financially – or even just those who are looking to reduce how they live overall. It provides a semi permanent dwelling and creates a widely accessible option for housing for people who may have otherwise struggled to find long term housing – and to be able to afford it. But shipping container homes provide this opportunity, as they tend to be dramatically less expensive than your standard home, no matter where you go in the United States or even in the world at large.
Shipping container buildings are important. Not only do we have the potential to reduce the waste that we contribute to this planet by a remarkable degree, but we can also provide housing to those who are very much and even desperately in need of it. Used shipping containers for sale can also be used for office building and temporary buildings of all kinds, such as for schools and for churches. All this is to say that there is really no limit to what we can do with old shipping containers, how we can repurpose them and give them new life.